Trooper on I-91 traffic detail in Northampton, spots truck with $500,000 to $1 million police say was from international drug operation

NORTHAMPTON - Shortly after police seized the car he was riding in along with about $1 million in cash in secret compartments, Mathieu Nantais put his head in his hands.

"We are so stupid!" Nantais said, according to a police report.

Nantais and driver Michael Masse, both 22 years old, were stopped by state police shortly before noon on Wednesday after an alert went out from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to be on the lookout for a silver Ford pickup truck with Vermont plates believed to be transporting a type of marijuana called "hydro-weed."

State Trooper Matthew Donah, who was on a paid traffic detail on Interstate-91, spotted the vehicle and took off in pursuit.

A convoy of police cruisers stopped the truck on the highway in Northampton a few minutes later. Masse, who is from Fairfield, Vt., told police he has a Canadian driver's license but did not have it on him. By the time a K-9 unit arrived with a drug-sniffing dog, Nantais was "nervous, shaking and sweating," according to the police report.

"I should have just stayed home," he told police. "How much money is in the truck?"

Police found out when they towed the vehicle to the Northampton barracks. After discovering two loose wires, they applied a 12-volt charge and a secret compartment rolled out with bundles of cash. Police estimate the amount at between $500,000 and $1 million, profits, they say, from an international marijuana trafficking operation between Canada and the U.S.

Masse and Nantais told police they had been shopping in New York and were on their way home to Canada. Although police did not report finding drugs in the truck, Masse and Nantais didn't make it home. Instead, both have been charged with conspiracy to violate drugs laws. Masse was also arraigned in Northampton District Court for operating without a license, a charge that was dropped so he could be transported to New Hampshire on federal charges. DEA officials would not comment on the case, saying it is an ongoing investigation.

Trooper Jeffrey Gordon, speaking as a troopers' union representative, said the arrest shows the benefit of having police work paid traffic details.

"It's a huge benefit the public gets that they're not getting from a (civilian) flagger," Gordon said. "There are endless stories like this involving detail cops."